Technical Field
This disclosure relates to topography simulation. More specifically, this disclosure relates to topography simulation of etching and/or deposition on a physical structure.
Related Art
Advances in process technology and an almost insatiable appetite for consumer electronics have fueled a rapid increase in the size and complexity of IC designs. This dramatic increase in complexity and integration densities can be attributed to the improvements in IC design and manufacturing technologies which have made it possible to integrate tens of millions of devices onto a single chip.
As semiconductor integration densities continue to increase, accurately predicting the shapes and sizes of features on the silicon wafer's surface is becoming increasingly important. Inaccuracies in topography simulation can negatively affect the efficacy of downstream applications. Moreover, if the topography simulation is computationally inefficient, it can increase the time-to-market for an integrated circuit, which can cost millions of dollars in lost revenue. Hence, it is desirable to improve the accuracy and the efficiency of topography simulation.